NAS to replace Time Capsule

Something weird on this thread.. my safari has frozen 3 times.

I will post in short bursts and edit from Chrome.

would love to know what potential impact this could have on a home/WFH user.

In the past I would say none.. they are or were good reliable drives. now not so sure.

search you tube for wd red smr

WD changed from normal CMR to SMR in a sneaky way to misinform community.. it was not received well.

See the NAScompares guy on the above for his tests between SMR and CMR versions. Not a lot of difference.. but long terms.. don't know.. I don't trust SMR.

Apparently a lot of drive manufacturers have started this hanky panky.

Seagate Ironwolf are still CMR from what I can gather and good from most reports.. Not a drive I use since I had a bad set of seagate.. which put me off..

I have bought a few Toshiba (HGST origin) Enterprise drives.. really good and fairly cheap if you can find a bulk supplier.

WD Red Pro (also HGST origin) very good and did not go SMR since also Enterprise standard.

You might also be able to buy HGST (originally Hitachi) but it is now owned across WD Toshiba and ???

Basically any enterprise drive is going to be CMR. And much preferred for storage long term and reliable.

However they are noisy and spin faster without any speed gain in your entry level NAS.

I would stick to the standard slower 5400rpm NAS drives.. pick from Ironwolf or Red. I think the 8TB did not go SMR.. you will need to check current info.

Note comment above about backup.. RAID is NOT backup.. and big USB drives are cheap.. if you store files directly on the NAS.. make sure you also backup..

Especially on a 2 bay NAS.. I would buy one 8TB drive and an 8TB USB for backup. Set it up with single drive for now.. there is no need to backup your Time Machine backups.. that is poor way to use disk space. I would also never do backup of Time Machine.. I do use double backup.. one using Time Machine to NAS or TC.. and one using Carbon Copy Cloner to USB drive directly plugged to the computer which does bootable clones.

On the NAS though any storage use like music or photos/vids should be backed up which is automatic via the Synology DSM.

I will wholeheartedly second LaPatenague's comments on the Synology NAS. As an Engineer (Aerospace) myself, I have found them extremely reliable and have been using them for years, with my latest model, a DS916+, for my Time Machine backups. (Knock on wood) I've had using it for over 4 years now and have not experienced a single TM backup failure.

I strongly recommend the Synology.

They do a much better job of keeping products up to date. Firmware updates are frequent and cover all those nasty changes Apple makes to backup with Time Machine.

WD tends to be a lot slower and it is just a more difficult setup with Apple products.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251315897

And it goes for many brands

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250959204

There are usually answers to problems or ways and means.. work arounds.. as EE I am sure you will be used to such things.. As Engineer (Chemical) but all my life in Electronics.. I have become weary of work arounds.. my brain no longer remembers command line rules etc. Hence.. why we buy Apple.. however disappointing that may be lately.

While there is some overhead management with the Synology they are used in very large numbers and the configuration is very straight forward. Lots of youtube tutorials and info out there.

And while you may not want to use the extras now.. they just sit there without intruding you may actually find some can be useful.

Just read the tutorial for setting up Time Machine with Synology.

https://www.synology.com/en-us/knowledgebase/DSM/tutorial/Backup/How_to_back_up_files_from_Mac_to_Synology_NAS_with_Time_Machine

Best of all it is actually reliable. Time Machine since Catalina has been rather less than great to Network Targets.. particularly with older units like Time Capsule which must use AFP protocol. Synology offers both AFP for older Macs and new SMB3 which Apple has adopted since High Sierra.

Synology appears more flexible in RAID options

A two disk NAS has limited RAID in the sense of efficiency. Synology does allow you to use it as you like. There is no need to setup with two disks even. You can buy DS220 and one larger disk like 8TB (whatever value you like up to 12 or even 16TB now). It will use portions of the drive for internal backup if allowed.. and you can add another disk whenever you like and configure RAID without messing up and starting over.

Consider what other method you wish for data security / integrity.

***IMPORTANT*** Raid is NOT backup.

The idea that using a RAID will provide full data security / integrity is simply not true.. it prevents loss due to disk failure. If you get ransomware into your system it will offer no protection.. or you accidentally delete something important there is nothing to help you get the files back. Disk failures are rare these days but they tend to happen to batches of drives. Very nasty too when it happens.. look up the story of the Seagate 3TB.. I had a NAS with those heaps of spinning rust.. and RAID will not help you out of multiple disk failures.

This is where running a NAS as a backup target is great. You can also use a large (cheap) USB drive plugged into the NAS as backup to the backup. This is automated and available in the NAS OS. Time Capsule was never a NAS and failed to provide that sort of functionality.

I use the NAS without RAID and simply use backup strategy for important stuff.

You will find a few of us here recommending the Synology as a replacement as Time Capsule's wear out and are no longer available.. they are not cheap.. but it is a good solution.

BTW local drives are the cheap way out. Plugging and unplugging a USB drive will drive you bonkers of course but if you buy a USB charging hub depending on the age of the MacBook Air (or thunderbolt hub) and have the USB plugged into that.. you still need to charge the laptop and the hub will make the backup drive available without any extra effort.

Excellent, great choices! FWIW, other than a few initial setup steps, TM backups to the NAS have been "plug & play" for those 4+ years I have used mine.

In case you want to get an idea on what it takes to set up, here are a few articles that may come in handy:

• https://nascompares.com/2019/04/08/how-to-back-up-your-mac-to-synology-nas-with-time-machine/
• https://www.synology.com/en-global/knowledgebase/DSM/tutorial/Backup/How_to_back_up_files_from_Mac_to_Synology_NAS_with_Time_Machine

I tested to see if it would work as a music server for my Onkyo receiver, and it did, so I have moved my music files over as well. That's a nice fringe benefit.

Thanks for the feedback. that is valuable for others who have the same query.

Are you on Big Sur yet? I don't have a computer suited to latest OS for now but interested to hear people's experience with Synology and Big Sur.

It is those extras that make the Synology competitive. The list of apps is very extensive and although the DS220J is a base model it still performs ok for small network.

I am amazed that you managed to get the price that low.

My DS220j is here already and I have two WD Red+ 8TB drives arriving later today. Thanks to Prime Day, I saved about $350 and overall this is costing me less than I paid for a 3TB Time Capsule years ago.

sshheesh wish we could get that kind of pricing in Australia. It pays to live in the world's biggest economy I guess.

hi - which brand HDs do you recommend using with the DS220j? Synology's compatibility list states, about the WD Red drives:

This drive has no vibration sensors and may not be suitable for 24/7 operation in a rack environment.

No I won't be using in a rack environment, but would love to know what potential impact this could have on a home/WFH user.

It will be primarily used to backup 2 macbooks inc one photographer/designer.

Thanks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDYEG4X_LCg

This is the link I thought was causing the freezes.. he is English and can stretch out a 5min video to 20min... but does good solid real testing.